Primates Meeting

The Primates of the Anglican Communion are the chief Archbishops, Presiding Bishops, Moderators and chief pastors of the 39 provinces. Their churches are autonomous yet inter-dependent in their relationships with each other. The Archbishop of Canterbury chairs their meetings, which are held at varying intervals around the world. The most recent was in Canterbury in 2017. (Read the communiqué).

The Primates have no authority as a body and their own national churches determine how their ministry is carried out in their own context. The customs and responsibilities vary between provinces.

The Primates' Meeting was established in 1978 by the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Donald Coggan, as an opportunity for “leisurely thought, prayer and deep consultation”.

This website contains the statements and communiqués from the meetings in 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2016 and 2017.